Less R, More D in Defense R&D Bills

Emphasis in the defense research agenda would continue to shift toward advanced technology development and defense-wide programs in Fiscal Year 2003, based on the House and Senate versions of the defense authorization bills that have cleared the respective armed services committees. [Note: authorization bills set the parameters for program spending levels; Congress must pass separate appropriation bills each year to allocate funds to specific programs or agencies.]

According to a synopsis provided in FYI #64, the American Institute of Physics (AIP) Bulletin of Science Policy News (May 30, 2002), spending for applied research will very likely decrease while basic research gets mixed signals between House and Senate versions of the bill. Advanced technology development could see an increase of 8-9.4 percent.

Three categories of R&D spending — basic, applied, and advanced technology development — are referred in defense community lingo as 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3. The table below presents AIP's summary statistics for each category of spending and each defense component. After passage in the House and Senate, differences between the two bills will be reconciled in conference.

Agency/Category House Senate Army

6.1 (basic)

6.2 (applied)

6.3 (adv. tech. dev.)

Total up 2.6%

down 23.3%

down 7.4%

down 13.3% up 7.8%

down 19.6%

down 2.3%

down 8.8% Navy

6.1 (basic)

6.2 (applied)

6.3 (adv. tech. dev.)

Total up 1.7%

down 15.8%

down 6.7%

down 8.5% up 3.7%

down 21.6%

down 23.2%

down 17.3% Air Force

6.1 (basic)

6.2 (applied)

6.3 (adv. tech. dev.)

Total down 0.9%

up 1.2%

up 38.6%

up 14.6% down 3.1%

down 4.8%

up 1.8%

down 2.2% Defense-wide

6.1 (basic)

6.2 (applied)

6.3 (adv. tech. dev.)

Total down 6.4%

up 4.3%

up 15.5%

up 8.5% up 2.1%

up 16.4%

up 27.5%

up 20.1% Aggregate DOD

6.1 (basic)

6.2 (applied)

6.3 (adv. tech. dev.)

Total down 1.6%

down 6.3%

up 9.4%

up 1.4% up 2.7%

down 2.8%

up 8.0%

up 2.8%

AIP's FYI #64, which includes excerpts from the committee reports that reference particular programs, is available at:

http://www.aip.org/enews/fyi/